When I first dreamed up the idea of the wrapped Smarty car, aka, the Smarty Party, I have to be honest, I was thinking Honda or Toyota, not HYUNDAI. My perception was that it was a cheap foreign car with zero cool factor. But when I was invited to tour the Bob Mayberry Hyundai dealership and test drive the fleet, I could not believe my eyes. This brand is only going up from here and has completely reinvented itself. I was sold at hello. So much so, that my hubby bought a Genesis, but we’ll save that blog for another day. This fam is 100% converted to Hyundai and proud of it!
Hyundai as a brand has been so much fun to be a part of this year – their national advertising campaign is on fire and I feel kind of hip and retro driving something different for a change. I was a loyal Toyota fan, LOVED my Sequoia more than anything in the world and I certainly didn’t expect to downsize happily. I could not have been more wrong.
This Hyundai Veracruz rig is tricked out with anything and everything a mom could want/need in a vehicle. We have heated leather seats, GPS, Sirius radio (my personal fave), dueling DVD players with wireless headsets for row two (a must with twins), a reverse alarm system so it’s pretty hard to run into something (comes in handy with a new basketball pole in the driveway), Proximity Key (senses when you approach and unlocks doors when you push a button) – you name it, this car has it. What surprised me most is how much I really like driving a smaller car. Now I’m not going to lie to you, I would not recommend this for a family of four children. But I would HIGHLY recommend it for a family with up to three children or even as the second hubby vehicle with a 3rd row. This car successfully fits in a compact space – I haven’t parked legally in these spots since pre-kids. It handles like a sedan, not a truck and looks and feels like its luxury counterparts, uh-hmmm, the Lexus RS perhaps? And let me tell ya, I have parked side-by-side and these cars could be mistaken for twins.
We have put some serious miles on this vehicle, remember when we drove it to little ‘ole Vero Beach, FL and a Charlotte Smarty spotted it over Christmas break? Yup, we drove this car with pride and enjoyed every minute of it. With six seats in use, we had to resort to the Sears XCargo on top of the car for storage. So really, it was like driving around town. We shoved everything up top and had leg room to spare.
The best part about this car – the price tag. You get all of the luxury amenities at a steal of a price with MSRP starting at $28K and an insane warranty – 10-year/100,000 mile. In this economy, you just can’t beat it.
So my question to you is would you drive the Smarty Party??
Here are my top 10 favorite things about driving the Smarty Party:
1. Everyone knows where I am and I get happy honks all day long. I love each and every one of them.
2. The look on children’s faces when they see the car for the very first time. I could bottle this up and sell it – pure joy!
3. The cool factor that we’ve brought to wrapped cars. I’ve had many discussions with the hubbies who are amazed at this idea and many think I have a fleet of cars. I tell them simply: your wife drives this much too, kinda crazy how much we’re in our cars, huh?! Make sure you get her a good one!
4. The Smarty Party has a twin – the Macaroni Mobile and it’s so fun to bump into her around town.
5. How much businesses enjoy it when we’re parked out front. We love the fact that we’re giving attention to our favorite local digs.
6. I’m a better driver altogether – no more running yellows or driving more than 3 miles over the speed limit (not that I ever did that:-). I can run but cannot hide. Makes for a safer family.
7. She is always getting her photo taken – what pretty girl doesn’t enjoy a good photo opp? She has been photographed with celebrity vehicles – the Lilly Jeep, the Taylor Swift trailer and the Vineyard Vines Suburban to name a few.
8. The Smarty Party is a mommy lifestyle and we utilize her unique appearance any and every way we can. We particularly love to park her at non-profit events to help boost awareness for all of the great fundraising efforts this awesome city offers.
9. My 5th grader loves it too – this could have been social suicide but she went into this with confidence, and she quickly realized that the boys love it as much as the girls. I’ve even gotten some high-fives.
10. She’s pink & green – pinch me, is this for real?
So you should just toss out your old perceptions of Hyundai and give it a whirl. We particularly love our friends at Bob Mayberry Hyundai in Monroe. They are good ‘ole boys who will take care of you and treat you like family. Exclusive CSP Bob Mayberry Moms Deal: Starting price is $500 below invoice (not MSRP, I said invoice). I’ll pass you over to Paul Moore from here. He’ll take good care of you, make sure you mention CSP!
